IS IT ANY WONDER?
by David Gilks
Fat has become one of the most misunderstood macro nutrients in the 20th century. It has been accused of prematurely ending the life of thousands and has been the scapegoat of many modern ills. Unfortunately, saturated fat is the culprit and is not to be confused with the healthy unsaturated fats that can be found in many healthier foods. Unsaturated fats are crucial in many processes in the human body such as:
- Formation of cell walls
- Part of brain and nervous system tissue and function
- Part of the matrix for prostaglandin's (hormones)
- Formation of healthy skin
Unfortunately the North American diet is higher in the unhealthy saturated fat. An average day spent wandering through the fast food lines and time spent hovering over the donuts at work may encourage the consumption of over 100 grams of saturated fat! Is this a problem? You bet your overstuffed britches! Saturated fat serves only one function, a source of fuel. For most of, we have enough stored fuel to last us some time. We must remember that fat holds twice the energy as protein or carbohydrates, a whopping 9 calories per gram, in contrast to protein and carbohydrates, which contain only 4 calories per gram. Unfortunately, this form of fat shows up everywhere. If you looked at the "Standard American Diet", or S.A.D. for short, you will soon realize that it's very simple to double or triple the amount of fat calories ingested over several meals.
For example, to get the same amount of fat in the Big Mac (31.4 grams or a little more than an ounce), you'd have to eat the entire "sandwich" of more natural foods on the right, consisting of half-a-pound of broiled chicken (skinned), one halibut fillet, a whole head of lettuce, one onion, six scallops, a cup of cooked kidney beans, a cup of brown rice, one pound of green beans, one sweet potato, an ear of corn, a cup of raisins, an orange, two red beets, four asparagus spears, half-a-pound of green peas in their pods, a cup of popcorn, a cup of cooked spaghetti and two slices of whole wheat bread. And don't think there's anything all that unusual about the Big Mac - compared to other common processed foods. Two hot dogs have just as much fat; so do a couple of Danish. As you can plainly see, it's quite easy to exceed our caloric requirements. Fibrous foods provide adequate calories without the added fat calories. Another thing that you should be aware of, the next time you fry up some bacon and the oil cools off and turns to white sludge, it also turns to white sludge inside of you. Nice thought!
The body will not tolerate constant abuse and eventually will give into illness.
Your health is your responsibility, and we all know better. Be sensible and feed your body the foods it needs. If you really don't know what food is healthy, talk to your local nutritionist. With the current state of the health care system, you might want to think about some preventive measures to ensure a long and health life.
